


Keep This Between Us

by seashadows



Category: Grey's Anatomy, The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Crack Crossover, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossover, Doctors & Physicians, Don't copy to another site, M/M, Undercover, Undercover Missions, just pretend Nicky has surgical training, yes they do the McThing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:21:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26182603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seashadows/pseuds/seashadows
Summary: Booker rolled his eyes and opened his computer again. “Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital,” he muttered, squinting at the screen as he typed. “Sounds dreary as hell, but God, the shenanigans the people in this place get up to. It’s almost as ridiculous as our shit.”(Nicky has to go undercover as a surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to get closer to a mark. No one can resist talking about him.)
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 44
Kudos: 404





	Keep This Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> For [this](https://theoldguardkinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/2487.html?thread=505015#cmt505015) prompt at the kink meme:  
>  _Nicky goes undercover in a place where he’s observed and gossiped about by a lot of people - think an university professor, a doctor at a hospital, a teacher etc. Let’s assume he’s got all needed qualifications and skills needed._
> 
> _All the students/nurses/suburbian moms love him and try to pick him up. Is that girl his girlfriend? What about that woman, that’s the wife? I don’t know about him, he seems a bit off. No way, he’s gay?! What about his hot friend with the dazzling smile, is he single? They’re married?!?! But what if it’s a green card scam? The other guy can do better anyway!_  
>  _The gossip mill is insane._  
>  _If you wish you can crossover it with any other show you want, I don’t care, I just want the sweet, sweet Outsider POV._
> 
> ...I don't even know. XD Sorry, this kind of just flowed out of me. I mean, they absolutely WOULD have training in a bunch of different specialized fields, wouldn't they? 
> 
> Takes place mid-season 18 of Grey's Anatomy, about a year before the events of The Old Guard movie.

“Nicky, for the last time,” said Booker, shutting his laptop with a decisive click, “are you sure you can pull this off?”  
  
Nicky sighed. “For the last time, Booker,” he replied, “yes, I am. I should remind you that I’m the only one among us who’s earned a medical degree within the last four hundred years.”  
  
Booker snorted. “Yeah, in 1900.”  
  
“I’ve studied since then,” Nicky protested. “And as for surgery, I have more than enough experience. I’ve practiced on myself, too,” he added, “which is more than I can say for you.” '  
  
Booker went faintly green, much to Nicky’s satisfaction. Joe snorted in obvious amusement from across the table. “Nicky,” Booker said, “if there’s something you want to tell me about what you’re into…”  
  
“It’s _practical_ ,” Nicky said over Joe’s snickers. “You’re lucky Andy isn’t here, Booker. She might not kill you, but she would challenge you to some sort of fight until you truly wished you were dead. Joe, please stop laughing.”  
  
Joe pounded the table a few times, bent over with laughter, then straightened up and wiped his eyes. “He’s got you there, Booker,” he said. “Look, _you’re_ the one who agreed to get the fake credentials, so this is on you if he fails. Nicky, do you have the info on the guy? I want to look at it again.”  
  
Nicky pulled a packet of folded papers out of his jeans pocket and passed it across the table. “He’s scheduled to have plastic surgery in a few weeks,” he said. “He won’t be my patient, of course, but I should be able to find out all the information I need to know from the medical records. No one will question it if I meet him in person as well.”  
  
Booker rolled his eyes and opened his computer again. “Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital,” he muttered, squinting at the screen as he typed. “Sounds dreary as hell, but God, the shenanigans the people in this place get up to. It’s almost as ridiculous as _our_ shit.”  
  
“Yes, Booker,” said Nicky. “We know. You’ve said it before.”  
  
“Yeah, well, I did you a favor and said it again.”

* * *

  
The new guy, or rather the potential soon-to-be new guy, had barely stepped into the lounge before the interns started making asses of themselves. “Holy _God_ ,” said Helm, and her jaw dropped. “Hi.”  
  
“Hellmouth!” Meredith snapped, relishing Helm’s guilty look. Good. “I’m sorry,” she added, and went over to…what was his name again? “Meredith Grey, head of general surgery.” She held out her hand. “Good to meet you. Ignore the interns.”  
  
“Likewise,” he said, and shook her hand. “Nicolò di Genova. It’s good to meet you…” He took a look at her nametag. “Dr. Grey? I think I was supposed to speak to you in person.”  
  
“Yes,” she said, relieved at the reminder. “I’m glad you’re considering Grey Sloan. We could use your help here until you decide.” Sam Bello hadn’t been an attending, but with her leaving and DeLuca just barely off the couch as a result, they were short-staffed. Another pair of hands would be welcome, even if she’d never worked with them before. “Was I supposed to give you a tour?”  
  
He glanced at something written on his hand. “Ah…no. Someone called Jo Wilson, I believe?”  
  
“Oh. Yes, okay. I’ll page her.” That was a relief. There were way too many abdominal injuries this time of year, when kids started getting reckless in the newly-warm weather, for her to waste a morning on a tour. Wilson could be spared a lot more than she could. “Welcome to Grey Sloan, Dr. di Genova.” She looked at her watch and started – it was a lot later than she’d thought. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a bowel resection to prep for. You can wait in the hall if you want to get away from the interns.”  
  
“Of course,” he said. “It was good to meet you.”  
  
As she left, Meredith could have sworn she heard another curse from Helm. _Scut for a month_ , she thought grumpily. They could all use a dose of it.

* * *

  
  
“I’m telling you,” Alex said through a mouthful of fries, “the guy’s not gonna stick around.”  
  
“Who would, after being sexually harassed in the workplace?” said Amelia.  
  
Meredith hit her on the arm. “Shut up. He wasn’t _sexually harassed_. Helm’s just got a giant hellmouth, that’s all. I think he’d be a good addition, if I could convince Bailey to keep him. Richard said he’s never seen anyone assist on an emergency splenectomy that calmly their first time.”  
  
“Come on,” Alex said dismissively, “even _I_ could do a splenectomy and I’m not even gen surg. I could do it with my eyes closed. Besides, it’s not like he’s new to this.”  
  
“Whatever, Alex.” Maggie, who had been focusing on her salad and her phone, finally spoke up from the other end of the table. “What are you doing, marking your territory? I doubt a new surgeon is any threat to – oh, _Jesus_.” Her eyes widened. “If the guy coming toward us is him, I think I understand Helm. _McDishy_.”  
  
Meredith made a frantic slicing motion across her throat just as di Genova reached them. “Hello,” he said with a smile. “I’m sorry to bother you. May I sit here? I’m very lost in this place.”  
  
“Sure,” said Meredith, and shot Alex a dirty look. “There’s room right there. How was your morning?”  
  
“Interesting,” he said. “I enjoyed assisting in the surgery. Dr. Webber has very steady hands.” He sat down and tapped his tray. “Are there always so many desserts in the cafeteria?”  
  
“Yes,” said Maggie, at the same time as Amelia said “Obviously.”  
  
Di Genova raised an eyebrow, a smile curling at the corners of his lips, as he opened his soup container. “I see,” he said. “Well, I look forward to learning from all of you.”  
  
Amelia raised her water glass. “Same to you,” she said. “Doctor…it’s di Genova, right?”  
  
He ate a spoonful of soup. “Yes,” he answered, “but please, call me Nicky.”

* * *

  
  
“That man could sink the Titanic,” Jo said.  
  
Meredith looked up from her charting. “What did you say?”  
  
Jo pointed at Nicky’s retreating back as he disappeared into the on-call room across the hall from the nurses’ station. “ _That_. What’re you guys calling him, McDishy? He has eyes the color of an iceberg and an ass you could crash a ship on.”  
  
The nurses around her exploded into giggles. “Does Alex know you’re perving on other men?” Meredith asked.  
  
“Who’s perving on other men?” said Bailey as she arrived at the station, leaning against the counter. “Grey, Wilson, is the new admit in the system yet? ER said it’s cholecystitis, but I have my doubts.” She fixed Jo with a gimlet stare. “Or are you too busy drooling over random men?”  
  
“Not in yet,” Meredith answered as Jo looked down, cheeks reddening. “I’ll check for Charcot’s triad once he’s in a room. That’ll tell us something.”  
  
Bailey pursed her lips. “At least someone over here has her head on straight,” she muttered, and turned to go, only to step back when the door to the on-call room burst open. “Whoa!”  
  
Nicky sidestepped her and slammed the door behind him. “Um,” he said, eyes wide, “people are ffffff –“ He looked sideways at a passing group of mostly interns. “Fornicating in there. Is that allowed?”  
  
“No, it isn’t,” said Bailey over the renewed chorus of laughter. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Dr. di Genova. Wilson, find out who’s in there and page them out.”  
  
“Who’s fornicating?” Carina DeLuca split off from the group to lean her elbows on the counter.  
  
“No one you know,” said Meredith, and clicked her chart open again, refraining from grinding her teeth only with the utmost effort. This was really, _really_ not the time. “Is there something you need?”  
  
Carina shook her head. “I’m looking for Arizona,” she said. “We finished a complicated C-section and I need to debrief. Who’s this?” She smiled at Nicky. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Carina DeLuca, OB.”  
  
“You’re Italian?” Nicky’s face lit up. “ _Sono_ Nicolò.”  
  
“ _Sono_ Carina!” she exclaimed. “ _Piacere!_ ”  
  
Nicky grinned and returned her greeting, and within seconds, the conversation evolved into the kind of fast, animated Italian that Meredith had last seen Carina deploy to scream her brother off Meredith’s couch. She caught the words _ostetricia e ginecologia_ , but apart from that, they could have been talking about rocket science for all she knew.  
  
She was in the middle of writing up the history and physical exam for her latest patient when she heard English again. “But I don’t see why you’re so surprised about the on-call rooms, Nicolò,” Carina said. “It’s natural when people work in such a stressful environment. Maybe it’s not the classiest behavior, but it’s an understandable stress valve, I think.”  
  
“But this is a place of healing,” Nicky protested. “Shouldn’t people refrain from those activities in a hospital? If the patients aren’t allowed, then why should doctors take advantage?”  
  
Meredith thought guiltily of her own extracurricular activities in the on-call room, then shook her head and pushed the thoughts away. “I wouldn’t overreact,” she said. Nicky blinked at her. “No, I mean – look, they’re coming out now.” There was indeed a guilty-looking couple emerging. “And by the way, you don’t need to watch your language around the interns. They’ve heard a lot worse than ‘fucking’ before.”  
  
Nicky pursed his lips. “I think I’ll go find somewhere else to sleep,” he said, and nodded towards Carina. “It was a pleasure, Dr. DeLuca. I look forward to meeting this brother of yours.”  
  
Jo, Meredith noticed, watched him again until he vanished from view before turning back to the nurses’ station. “What the hell? ’Fornicating’?” she said to Meredith. “Is this medieval times?”

* * *

“Are you serious?”  
  
“Yes,” Nicky said, “but I really wish I wasn’t.”  
  
Joe made a disgusted noise. “That’s revolting,” he said. “Do they even wash the sheets in those rooms?”  
  
“On a day-to-day basis? I doubt it.” Nicky took a bite of his roasted chicken. “Thank you so much for cooking, Yusuf. The food at that cafeteria barely qualifies as food.”  
  
“Let me guess,” Booker cut in, “rubbery half the time and raw the other half?” He turned up the TV volume. “Hell yes, baseball!”  
  
Despite himself, Nicky grinned. “If it’s not that, then it’s much too sweet.” He reached for Joe’s hand and gently squeezed it. “I’d say I’ll be glad when I can leave, but the surgeries are fascinating, at least.”  
  
“How’s it going with the mark?” Booker asked. “Any information?”  
  
“I’m working on it,” Nicky answered. “There was a successful hacking attempt earlier this year and they’re understandably paranoid, so I have to get the information the old-fashioned way. I’m making progress, though.”  
  
“That’s fine.” Booker took a sip of his drink. “Better that than nothing at all. Want to watch with me?”  
  
Joe got up from the table. “I will,” he said. “I’m full anyway. Move over.”  
  
Nicky watched with a smile as Booker amiably made room on the couch, then turned back to his food. Surgery really did leave him starving.

* * *

  
  
“Di Genova, how’s your post-op?”  
  
“Resting comfortably,” Nicky said. “The incision appears to be healing well.”  
  
“Good,” said Bailey. “I wanted to ask you – have you come any closer to a decision?”  
  
He blinked. “Ah, about working here? I’m afraid I still need time to decide. I apologize for that.”  
  
Bailey clicked her tongue. “Well, I won’t rush you,” she said, “and we’re glad to have you, but you do understand that I need to hear a yes or no on hiring you. Most hospitals wouldn’t give you a trial period this long.”  
  
“Yes, I know,” Nicky said. “I can’t thank you enough for that.” He smiled, then looked around. “Do you know where I might find Dr. Avery? I have a question for him about a patient of his, and –“  
  
“Nicolò!” Carina DeLuca exclaimed as she jogged over. “Oh, I’m glad I found you again. I have someone to introduce you to – Andrea, stop pulling!” She yanked her brother hard by the hand. “Nicolò, this is my little brother, Andrea DeLuca. He’s a resident. Andrea, Nicolò di Genova. He’s trying out the general surgery department here.”  
  
“ _Andrew_ ,” DeLuca corrected, sounding as annoyed as he looked. “Hey, man, nice to meet you. I prefer Andrew, by the way.” He stuck out his hand, which Nicky promptly shook. “You’re who my sister dragged me over to see?”  
  
“It seems so,” Nicky said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t ask. Your name is Andrea - Andrew? I have a friend called…” He paused, seeming to think better of something. “I mean, that’s my friend’s name.”  
  
“Oh. Cool.” DeLuca glanced at Carina. “Look, Nelson’s up my ass about charting, so can I please get back to what I was doing?”  
  
“Fine.” Carina rolled her eyes. “I only wanted you to be social. Nicolò, I haven’t asked – are you from Genoa? Your surname…”  
  
Nicky shook his head quickly. “It’s a family name only,” he said. “Myself, I’m from Rome.”  
  
Bailey couldn’t help interjecting then. “Are we finished?” she asked. “Socializing’s all well and good, but not when there’s work to do. DeLuca, get back to Nelson before that patient of his strokes out because _you_ didn’t finish his chart. He’s hypertensive.”  
  
“You could always try bleeding him,” Nicky said absently, drumming his fingers on the counter.  
  
She blinked, and felt her jaw drop, along with both DeLucas. “Sorry, _what_ did you say, Dr. di Genova?”  
  
His face and ears immediately flushed bright red. “God,” he said, “I’m so sorry. It was a…a joke, but, ah, it sounds better in Italian. Sorry again. I…um.” Bailey raised both eyebrows at him. Joke – no one needed to be making that kind of joke in a hospital. “I’ll go find something to do.”  
  
She kept her opinion in until he was out of earshot. “Does that kind of thing actually sound better in Italian?” she asked. “ _Really_?”  
  
Carina shrugged. “Probably,” she said. “Most things do.”

* * *

  
  
Helm plunked down next in a nearby chair. “Major hottie alert in the lobby,” she said to Schmidt, who just stared. “Oh, whatever, I had to say it. I don’t think he’s a patient.” She caught Meredith’s eye and ducked her head. “Anyway…”  
  
“Is he deranged?” Alex said sardonically.  
  
Meredith didn’t hit him, but it was a close thing. “Not funny, Alex!” She rounded on Helm. “Helm, what did I say?”  
  
“What?” she protested. “I had to say something! He’s got curls for days and…oh my god.” Her eyes widened. “There he is!”  
  
Meredith peeked out the open door. “Oh, he’s over there with Nicky,” she said. “Must be a friend of his, or…”  
  
Nicky turned as the mystery man tapped him on the shoulder. “ _Habibi!_ ” he said, and took the man’s face in his hands, kissing his forehead. “You came to see me?”  
  
“Of course,” came the reply. “Do you want to get lunch?”  
  
“I would like nothing more.” The two linked hands and walked out of sight.  
  
There was a pause. “Oh,” Meredith finally said.  
  
“Oh,” Helm and Schmidt echoed.  
  
“ _Oh_ ,” said Alex. And then, of course, he ruined the moment. “Knew it.”  
  
“Wow,” said Maggie as she came through the door. “McDishy has…what should we call him? McCurly?”  
  
Meredith shook her head. “Whatever you want to call him,” she said, “if Nicky has that at home, I don’t think he’ll be using the on-call room anytime soon. Actually, I don’t even think he’s told Bailey yes.”  
  
Alex leaned back in his chair. “Told you he wouldn’t stick around.”

* * *

  
  
They dispatched the target uneventfully, and soon packed up and left their temporary quarters. “I don’t think I’ll be doing that again for a while,” Nicky said as he slid into the car next to Joe, then slammed the door. “Medicine is much too weird now.”  
  
“That’s not medicine,” Joe said. “I think that’s just _Grey Sloan_.”  
  
Nicky shuddered. “Why anyone would want to work there is beyond me.”

* * *

"It was the damndest thing," said Richard. "I didn't want to say anything while he was still here, but I had some doubts after I heard that. Now, I _think_ he was just trying to make a joke, but I have to mention it."

"Uh-huh," said Meredith, letting both eyebrows float practically into her hairline. "Tell me."

Richard shrugged. "If I remember correctly, it was something along the lines of 'splenenectomies are much easier when I don't have to perform them on myself.'"

A sudden crash drew Meredith's attention, and she wasn't at all surprised to find that Bailey had stopped halfway across the room, mid-stride, letting an armful of books hit the floor. "Excuse me," Bailey said slowly, "he said _what?"_

**Author's Note:**

> I can be found at godihatethisfreakingcat on Tumblr, if you would care to yell at me for this. :D


End file.
